


Jack of all trades

by Tashilover



Category: Avatar the Last Airbender - Fandom, Endeavour, The Legend of Korra - Fandom
Genre: Crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-25
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 01:32:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4202871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tashilover/pseuds/Tashilover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Maybe it's time for a non-bending Avatar."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jack of all trades

**Author's Note:**

> Silly little fic is silly.

There was a lack of diversity among benders and non-benders. While England and the rest of Europe was primarily a fire dominated state, times have changed. Earth and water benders have staked their claim onto these lands and they too deserve a chance to show their skills. Non-benders too.

So when he took Morse, a non-bender, on as his bagman, Thursday could feel the collective groan spread through the precinct. Even Bright had pulled Thursday aside to chastise him.

"There's a rank system for a reason, Thursday. Even more, you brought on a non-bender? This is a dangerous job and our men need to protect themselves."

That was a bit surprising. While Bright may not be the loudest when it came to advocating diversity in the precinct, there were plenty of immensely powerful non-benders among them. Like Presley; he was nearing fifty but his skills as a chi-blocker were unmatched. It would be fool-hardy to dismiss someone just because they couldn't control an element.

Just to satisfy Bright, Thursday brought Jakes along for the next couple of cases. The young man was an excellent water bender- but not a healer, unfortunately. Nobody in their precinct could heal. It was another position Thursday was determined to fill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"...on Lesland Rd. It will be opened tomorrow morning, according to officials. In other news, there are rumours the Avatar was found today in Italy. Very little information has been confirmed, perhaps due to last year's fiasco with Jeremy Lentil, who claimed to be the Avatar and walked away with over three million pounds in donations-"

Morse reached over the turned off the car radio. He turned his attention back to the road and made a disgusted noise.

Thursday raised an eyebrow. "Not a fan of the Search?"

"Not a fan of the way they go on about it. It's more of a spectacle than a search."

"You have a point there. But I do hope they find the Avatar soon."

"Why? It's not like we need the Avatar. We won the war without her."

Avatar Ada had died only a couple of years before WWII. She was killed during a rampant spirit attack, brought on when humans destroyed a sacred grove by accident. Though it had been greatly argued which side she would have been on considering she was both German and Indian, and had been in great favour towards Hitler in the very beginning.

"Maybe," Thursday said. "But maybe she could have ended the war sooner. Maybe she could've stopped the Americans from using the Bomb. Maybe she could've stopped the war altogether. Who knows. The world needs the Avatar, Morse. Even if you don't believe in one."

Morse was quiet for the rest of the drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though Morse was a non-bender, it was quickly established the boy had a special relationship with spirits. Often times during lunch, Thursday would watch as small, simple spirits would drift towards Morse, settle on his shoulders like a bird, then flitter away after a few minutes. It was cute. It reminded Thursday of the days when Joan used to chase small spirits around the garden, and she would get so disappointed when they flew away. When Thursday asked how Morse was able to establish such a bond, Morse shrugged.

Sometimes spirits would fly over the station or suckle nectar from nearby flowers, but tended to keep their distance whenever a human came near.

During one case when they found the body of a young woman who was strangled to death, instead of inspecting the body, Morse was off to the side, conversing with a spirit.

"What is he doing?" Jakes sneered, jerking his head in Morse's direction. "He does know the body is over here, right?"

After a few minutes, Morse came back. "The spirit said she-"

" _She?"_ Jakes mumbled under his breath.

"-saw suspicious man in this vicinity in the past few days. He would stand by that corner, as if waiting for someone. The spirit said he would always seem interested if someone walked by without a companion."

"Did she give a description?" Thursday asked.

At this, Morse gave a small shake of his head. "All humans look the same to spirits," he said. "You have to be very unique to be distinguishable to a spirit."

"Like you?" Thursday asked with a little grin.

Thursday didn't know why, but Morse's expression soured at that. He turned away and said quietly under his breath, "I'm not unique."

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Avatar Day, Thursday took the family to the park.

Joan had lightly griped about not taking the car, but the streets were so clogged it would've taken longer to drive. Sam, the ever so Avatar-obsessed boy, kept sprouting off interesting little facts about past Avatars. No, Thursday did not know Avatar Kiyoshi enjoyed polar bear wrestling.

Win was simply happy being able to go out with the whole family on a such warm, lovely day. Thursday offered to carry the basket of food she brought with them and she waved him off. That basket was heavy, laden with forks and plates and cups, and yet the woman carried it like it was nothing. When the kids weren't looking, Thursday pinched her bottom in appreciation, prompting her to swat at him affectionately. "Not in public!" She giggled at him.

At the park they watched as children flew avatar-spirit kites, clapping in glee while waterbenders raced down the lake. Earthbenders erected their own play area and kicked around a small ball made of stone.

"Hey, Sam," Thursday asked. "Who do you think the next Avatar is?"

Sam had to swallow down a mouthful of chicken before answering. He coughed, then said, "Well... the Avatar is most likely male, considering the last two have been women. He'll be from the Fire Nation, so any of the European countries count."

"So you don't think he's dead? It's been nearly thirty years."

"Avatars don't die easily. Either something's keeping him from revealing himself, or he already has been revealed and we are all too stupid to notice."

Joan made a face. "How can we not notice?"

"Because we're not looking," Sam said, shrugging. "The Avatar may be the most famous person on the planet, but I can guarantee you, if Avatar Ada was standing in front of us right now, we wouldn't recognize her. We're constantly putting the Avatar on this pedestal, seeing them as our saviour, but people often forget the Avatar is human too. That means the Avatar is flawed, and can be ugly, and smelly, and make mistakes that could potentially cost the lives of millions of people. To this day people still curse Avatar Aang for disappearing for a hundred years. He may have eventually won the war, but at what cost? The near extinction of the Air Nation, of the Sky bisons, the deaths of thousands of people-"

"He was just a kid! How can anybody blame a boy for being scared-"

"Like I said, people don't see the Avatar as human. And when your decisions could literally change the course of history, you'd be scared to reveal yourself too."

It was too heavy of a talk for such a joyous day. Thursday changed the subject by giving the kids a few pounds to go buy themselves something from the stands. Once they left into the crowd, he snuggled up next to Win, pulling her close, kissing her hand gently.

"Hmmm..." Win hummed happily, leaning her head against his shoulder. "It is such a beautiful day. I'm surprised you didn't bring Morse along."

Though this was suppose to be a day for family, Thursday had extended an invitation to the boy. "I asked," he said. "But he chose to work, man the phones. Extra pay, I suppose. But..."

He trailed off.

"But what?" Win asked, sitting up to look at him.

"I don't know. He has this odd... disdain for the idea of an Avatar. He hasn't said it out loud, but the few times he's spoken about the Avatar, he acts like it physically hurts him to talk about them. And yet... he's the most spiritual of the bunch. I have seen spirits flock to him. They talk to him like they're long lost friends."

"Really? That's incredible! Remember that spirit Joan tried to befriend when she was five? That thing sat on her for an hour until I chased it off. Nasty thing."

"Everybody else in the precinct treats the spirits like bad omens. Morse is the only one who treats them like... equals. He doesn't like it when I point it out, though."

Win murmured thoughtfully, and said in jest, "Well, you heard Sam. Maybe Morse is the Avatar and he's too afraid to reveal himself."

"Morse is a non-bender," Thursday said. "So that's impossible."

"Who knows," Win shrugged. "Maybe it's time for a non-bending Avatar."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether Win knew it or not, that one sentence planted a growing seed in Thursday's head. The more he thought about it, the more he found himself believing in it.

Of course he knew he shouldn't. The Avatar had the ability to bend all four elements. That was the basic guideline, every child on earth knew that.

But as pointed out by Sam, the Avatar also had other abilities: bending spiritual energy, a natural connection to the spirits and the spirit world.

That also wasn't enough to declare Morse to be the Avatar and yet somehow, Thursday could not bring himself to disagree with it. _There was something about this boy._ Something special, something beyond human comprehension. Since the first day Thursday laid eyes on him, he knew Morse was going to go on and do amazing things.

So he waited, waited for two months until one night when he and Morse were working by themselves. The case was solved, now it was only a matter of finishing the paper work and filing it away.

He watched Morse sign his documents and placing them into a folder. When the boy stood to put it away, Thursday said out loud, "You're the Avatar."

Morse froze.

There were two scenarios Thursday theorized could happen now: Morse admits he's the Avatar, reveal to Thursday why he's been hiding this whole time, and maybe show he really does know how to bend all four elements.

Or he could deny it, call Thursday delusional for believing in such a theory. It was not as if the evidence Thursday collected was solid proof.

But Morse did neither.

He ran.

He dropped the file and ran.

Thursday was so stunned, he stood there for a few long seconds with his mouth gaped open. "Wait," he said stupidly, though Morse had already left the room. "Morse, wait-!"

He ran after the boy, banging his hip against a desk in his haste to follow. By the time he got outside, Morse was already off in the distance, running so fast only an Olympic sprinter could hope to catch up him.

"Damn," Thursday groaned, feeling his knees ache. God, he should've handled that better.

Morse wasn't running towards home; that was in the other direction. Maybe in that rush of panic he simply ran, uncaring which way he went. Either way, Thursday had to find him.

There was a soft cooing noise, and Thursday turned his head to see a spirit sitting on top of the precinct posted sign. She looked like an elegant bird, long and white and beautiful. She had four wings and when she cooed, it sounded sad.

Morse was the only one who spoke to the spirits. Maybe this one knew where he went. "Excuse me," Thursday said.

The spirit snapped her head violently towards him, making him jump. Her bright silver eyes narrowed and she hissed out, " _What did you say to him?"_

"I..." There was no point in lying. "I told him I knew he was the Avatar."

"Are you planning to hurt him?"

"What? No!"

"People tried," the spirit said. "If he could bend he could protect himself but... I don't know why he can't..."

If Morse running like he had hell on his heels wasn't enough confirmation, this spirit just sealed it. Oh good lord, Thursday was right. He was right and he just ran off the goddamn Avatar, oh fuck him. "Do you know where he would go?"

"The university," the spirit said. "His university. I think one of his past lives used to attend there. He goes there, looking for answers sometimes."

"You said people have tried hurting him. So there are others who know who he is?"

The spirit cooed sadly. "I think... that's something you need to ask him for yourself. It's not easy... being betrayed."

With that, the spirit turned and spread her wings. With a single push, she took off into the night, her white feathers glowing brightly against the black sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morse never made it to the university. Even by car it was a twenty minute drive and he was doing it on foot. Thursday found him, walking miserably with his hands shoved into his pockets.

Thursday pulled over and said from the window, "Morse, get in the car."

There was no room for arguing, though Morse's mouth twisted unpleasantly. With a sigh, he pulled his hands out and got into the car, not once looking at Thursday. Once he was secured in his seat, Thursday pulled out into the main road. They were the only car in sight.

For a few minutes they drove in silence, Thursday shifting uncomfortably. There was no getting around this. Might as well bring it out. "How old were you when you realized you were...?"

"Sixteen."

"Sixteen? Bit late isn't it?"

"Having the ability to bend is usually an indicator someone could be the Avatar. When that didn't work, the White Lotus at the time were using a spiritual device to look. It was more of a game of 'getting warmer, getting warmer' than an actual Search. Once they found me, they did the usual tests with Avatar objects."

"Do you know why you can't bend?"

"Permanently blocked chakras," Morse said. "I was born prematurely, so that might have something to do with it, but it's only a theory. Nothing can open them, not even bloodbending."

A horrible twisted feeling churned in Thursday's stomach. Though many people were pushing for more bloodbending to be used in modern medicine, Thursday has seen first hand how it could be used in war. During full moons he would watch in horror as men were lifted into the air, like puppets on strings, and had their bodies snap in half like dry wood. Forcing Morse- forcing a _sixteen year old child_ to be subjected to bloodbending was insane. No matter how desperate Thursday was to have an Avatar back in the world, he would never go that far. Ever.

"How did _you_ find out?" Morse suddenly asked. "Did... did someone tell you?"

"No one told me. I figured it out."

" _How?"_

"Do I really need to remind you I'm a detective?"

"I meant no disrespect, but sir, even the White Lotus needed a spiritual guide to help them. What tipped you off?"

"The little things," Thursday said. "Your relationship with spirits, the way you react to every time someone brings up the subject of the Avatar... and also, you give off this aura."

"Aura?"

"It's hard to describe. Maybe if I was better trained in the spiritual arts I could tell you. It's the same feeling you get when you step onto sacred ground and you step lightly, careful not to disturb the area."

"You felt like you needed to be cautious around me?"

"You were someone I knew who was _important_ ," Thursday said. "Someone who was going to go on and do great things. At the time I thought that meant you were to go on to be an incredible detective. Now, I know your destiny goes beyond here."

"I can't _bend_ ," Morse insisted. "What does the world need for a non-bending Avatar?"

It was a valid question. According to Sam, when Avatar Korra was confined to a wheelchair, she was seen as an invalid and was dismissed in the eyes of many world leaders. Having a non-bending Avatar could be considered as a bad omen.

"I don't know," Thursday said. "I guess we'll just have to wait and find out."


End file.
